Monthly Archives: August 2017

14Aug/17

GRADnet Training Programme for 2017-18 Announced

Outline of 2017-18 Training Programme

GRADnet is pleased to announce its programme of physics postgraduate researcher training for the next academic year. The programme for the year can be downloaded here: GRADnet Brochure 2017-18 Final

We have developed yet another comprehensive programme for 2017/18 comprising a mix of academic physics workshops and student-led conferences; residential schools with real life industrial content, leadership and professional skills training; targeted professional skills modules and more peer-learning opportunities.

This year, GRADnet is focussing on the following residential workshops in the following research themes of its partner physics departments. For 2017/18 we are offering:

  • Numerical Modelling in Condensed Matter (14-16 January 2018)
  • Observational Astrophysics (5-7 March 2018)
  • Strong Correlations (11-13 April 2018)
  • NExT workshop for particle physicists (25-28 Jun 2018)

For some of these events we will return to the Old Thorns Manor Hotel which offers impressive leisure facilities in the middle of our region.

For Second Year PGRs

The whole programme kicks off with “Moving Forward for Second Years” training on 18th October in central London. The training day includes the following workshops:

  • Creating impact
  • How to write a successful fellowship application
  • Research data management
  • Unconscious bias
  • Writing better software for research

For First Year PGRs

For the second year running there will be a GRADnet Induction Day on 25th October in central London. The Induction will include a choice of workshops for new PhD students:

  • Introduction to LaTeX
  • Python for beginners and more advanced users
  • Introduction to MATlab
  • Getting your research published
  • Organising meetings and conferences

Induction Day 2016

For all PGRs

The Winter School in 2018 at Cumberland Lodge (14-16 February) focuses entirely on the 2003 NASA Columbia disaster:  a popular case-study element of last year’s school. It takes students through exercises in leadership and team-working, skills rated highly by employers.

The 2018 Summer School at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex (2-5 July) explores suggestions to “What can I do with my PhD?”– this is a mix of employer-led workshops and consultancy challenges.

There will be a student-led conference covering Advances in High Energy Physics and Cosmology and From Micrometres to Megaparsecs. There will be cross-over lectures which are relevant to students of both particle physics and astronomy at the University of Southampton on 21-23 March 2018 and a one-day workshop on Science Communications Skills on 24th April 2018.

For more information on these courses and to register, logon to the GRADnet VRE.

07Aug/17

Moving Forward for 2nd Year PGRs 18 October 2017

GRADnet Moving Forward for 2nd Year PGR Students

Who:  2nd Year Physics PhD students. All SEPnet Departments expect all students to attend.

When:  18 October 2017, 10.30-16.30

Where:  Park Crescent Conference Centre, 229 Great Portland Street, London, W1W 5PN.

Deadline to register is 11 October 2017.

Numbers: This event is strongly recommended by all SEPnet partner Departments.  Circa 100 students are expected to attend. Students are to sign up for two workshops on arrival and attend one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

What:  A one-day training session, an opportunity to meet fellow researchers from across the network and to participate in two from five short workshops designed to get you started in key areas of activity.

  • Creating impact: Thinking about how to commercialise your research, or an idea, and turn it into an exploitable product or service? Perhaps you are interested in a career in business or knowing how businesses are created. Would you like to start thinking like an entrepreneur, or as someone that wants to change the world through innovation?
  • How to write a successful Fellowship Application: This workshop is aimed at those students who are considering an academic career. Most often this starts with a period of postdoctoral study during which the researcher is supported by a Fellowship. The workshop focusses on what is required to prepare a successful research council or similar fellowship application.
  • Research data management: Research data management is increasingly important in all fields of research. Presented by Research Council and University experts, this workshop asks what is required for good data management and examines some of the common problems and issues that researchers face.
  • Unconscious Bias:  Almost no-one thinks that they are unconsciously biased. Yet white males and many non-white students perform less well in their degrees than white females – it could be due to bias in assessment systems – while females rarely get to the top of their profession – is this bias in the promotion systems? Something is going wrong if we don’t appoint and promote the best person for the job.
  • Writing better software for research: Whether you have 10 lines of shell script, 100 lines of R, or 10,000 lines of C, the quality of your research, and reproducibility of your results, depends upon the quality of your code. In this course, Mike Jackson from the EPCC (formerly Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre) explores the qualities of good code, discusses blockers, and presents practical tools and techniques that help you to write better code, in less time, and with less effort.

Travel expenses and refreshments are covered by SEPnet.

To Register sign on to the VRE and look here.

07Aug/17

Southampton Quantum Light and Matter (QLM) Summer School

Registration Now Open!
We look forward to seeing you at the School!

Are you an experimental physicist? Are the lab gremlins getting you down? Does none of your data make sense? You could give up and end it all… but you should come to the QLM Summer School 2017! There are a limited number of places for PGRs from SEPnet institutions.

Now in its third year, the QLM Summer School is a chance to receive practical, hands-on advice to develop new skills, improve your lab productivity and kickstart your future career.  Taking place at Bournemouth University Talbot Campus from the 30th August – 1st September 2017, we are offering a varied selection of talks, workshops and activities to help unleash your full scientific potential whether you’re just starting your PhD and feel completely lost, or approaching the end of your PhD… and feel completely lost!

Accommodation, travel to and from the summer school and meals are provided!

Find out more here.

To Register click on the registration tab or follow the link below:

https://goo.gl/forms/KxLlWmmOrnaErMLY2